Horizon Europe Missions launch 2023 Calls for Proposals

Commission launches new calls worth over €600 million to support research and innovation under EU Missions.

The European Commission has launched new calls worth over €600 million to support research and innovation under the five EU Missions – Adaptation to Climate Change, Cancer, Restore our Ocean and Waters, Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and A Soil Deal for Europe.

Missions are a novel instrument in Horizon Europe for the 2021-2027 programming period. They aim to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges with concrete solutions, leading to societal transformations and social impact. Missions will also help deliver key EU policy priorities such as the European Green Deal, the Climate Adaptation Strategy, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and A Europe fit for the Digital Age, among others.

The calls that have recently launched under the Horizon Europe Missions are as follows:

Adaptation to Climate Change

The Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change supports EU regions, cities and local authorities in building resilience against the impacts of climate change. It aims to lead 150 European regions and communities towards climate resilience by 2030. Three new calls for proposals launched under this Mission on 10 January 2023 with a total budget of €83 million. Applications will close on 20 September 2023.

Cancer

The Mission on Cancer aims to help tackle cancer through better understanding of cancer, prevention, diagnostic and quality of life. Four new calls for proposals opened under this Mission on 12 January 2023 with a budget of over €110.7 million. Applications will close on 12 April 2023.

Restore our Ocean and Waters

The Mission ‘Restore our ocean and waters by 2030’ provides a systemic approach for the restoration, protection and preservation of Europe’s ocean, seas and waters by 2023. This mission launched 11 new calls for proposals on 17 January 2023 with a total budget of over €87.7 million. In addition, two joint calls with other missions with a total budget of €31 million were launched: OCEAN-SOIL and CLIMA-OCEAN-SOIL. They will close on 20 September 2023.

Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities

The Cities Mission aims to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 that will inspire and enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. One new call for proposals with two topics launched under this Mission on 10 January 2023 with a total indicative budget of €70 million. It will close on 27 April 2023.

A call to associate Ukrainian cities to the Climate-neutral and smart cities Mission with a total indicative budget of €5 million is expected to open on 4 April 2023 and close on 6 September 2023.

A Soil Deal for Europe

The Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ aims to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030. Nine new calls for proposals under this Mission opened for applications on 17 January 2023 with a total budget of €126 million. They will close on 20 September 2023.

To mark the launch of the new calls, the European Commission hosted the EU Missions info days on 17-18 January 2023 to provide further information about the new topics included in the EU Missions work programme 2023. Recordings from the event are available to view on the event website.